Sunday, July 31, 2011

So says Bum Phillips, former coach of the Houston Oilers football team. So...by way of recipes, we took the basic sour cream coffee cake recipe and "danced with who we brung" and the "who" is beautiful homegrown cherries.
The original recipe calls for chocolate but I looked at those cherries and thought "why not"? And a delicious coffee cake it made. A dash of cinnamon, a spoonful of sugar and we have a beauty!
And the good news is, that guests are dancin in the dining room!
(You can find the recipe under Lynnette Scofield and The William Henry Miller Inn heading).

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

This is SO cool! Honeydew "Gazpacho" is getting rave reviews from the guests of Eight Broads in the Kitchen this summer, and no wonder. It has a refreshing taste that says "summer." It's easy to make. And there are fewer than 20 calories per serving!

If you have any left over, add 2-3 ounces of tequila and 1-2 ounces of Cointreau for each cup of "gazpacho," blend, and voila! Honeydew Margaritas! Ole!

Photo? Sorry but Honeydew "Gazpacho" doesn't sit long enough to be photographed.

Summer produce is just the best, isn't it? On Sunday, Sylvie (our wonderful BBP --"beautiful breakfast preparer") and I headed to Ithaca's Farmers' Market to pick up our CSA bounty for the week.
In one of the stalls, we noticed gorgeous green tomatoes as well as perfect homegrown tomatoes---the first I've seen here this summer.
So yesterday, our savory breakfast option was a base of a homemade English Muffin, a fried green tomato, beautiful red tomato, fresh basil and poached egg topped with a little shaved parmesan.
The plate that you see is not garnished yet but I guarantee you that it was a lovely breakfast!

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Each morning we begin our breakfast with a fruit dish. We have a new love affair with plums! Yup, plums! We have made a Chilled Plum and Rhubarb Soup; Fresh Plum Coffee Cake; Plum Sauce and our favorite, Roasted Plums. We serve them with a variety of toppings but this morning they were served with vanilla yogurt, a drizzle of honey and chopped pistachios. The sweet and salty are just great!

INGREDIENTS

Fresh Plums
Sugar
Topping

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Line a jelly roll pan with parchment paper.
Spray with vegetable spray. Sprinkle sugar over the vegetable spray and tilt the pan to spread the sugar evenly.
Cut the plums in half and take out the pit (we use a melon baller to do that).
Place plums cut side down on parchment.
Bake for 8 minutes. Check after 8 minutes since there is a very fine line between "roasted" and "mushy".

This is the perfect summer dessert. The pie uses some of our favorite, plentiful fruits and the crust couldn't be easier. This is always a hit on the dessert buffet that we serve nightly and, if you'd like, the crust will serve as the "host" for other fruits as well.
One of my very favorite cookbooks is where this was found: "For Goodness Taste" from The Rochester Junior League.

DIRECTIONSCombine 1 1/2 cups flour, sugar, salt, oil and milk to form a soft pastry dough.Press dough evenly in a 9-inch pie pan.Combine confectoiners sugar, 1/3 cup flour and the fruit. Spoon over pastry.Combine 3/4 cup flour, brown sugar and cinnamon. Cut in butter until crumbly and then spread over the fruit.Bake 40-45 minutes at 375 until the topping is a beautiful golden brown!Serves 8

Thursday, July 14, 2011

This summer has a been a real treat to be part of a CSA (Community Sponsored Agriculture). Every week we pick up our bounty from Sacred Seed Farm, a certified organic farm, who has a booth at our Farmer's Market.
This week, among bunches of beautiful rainbow chard, kale, French radishes and arugula, we had a head of Napa cabbage. Hmmm....what to do with Napa cabbage at breakfast.
So this morning I prepared a combination of cabbage salad and Waldorf salad and to my great surprise, guests loved it. We served a small portion as an accompaniment to Swiss Woods Eggs Florentine, home fries and homemade County White Toast.

We are so fortunate to have with us this summer, Braden Birch. Braden is going into Cornell's School of Hotel Administration as a Junior and is not only a student in a wonderful program but is an integral part of Cornell's Big Red Hockey team--#7, a defenceman.
We are trying to familiarize Braden with all the aspects of the Inn but one of his responsibilities is to prepare desserts for our evening dessert buffet. He has taken a brownie recipe that I have used for years and done something magical. They are the best I've ever had. He's tried to tell us that he never baked before. We just can't believe it since his results are so good. Not only is he a great baker but at 6'4" can reach shelves for the 5' innkeeper!
He prepared these last Sunday and on Monday morning, a guest confessed that she had eaten four. That's how good these are!!
We hope you'll enjoy them as much as we do.

DIRECTIONS
Melt butter in microwaveable dish.
Beat eggs and slowly add sugar so it is incorporated well into the eggs. (We beat the egg and sugar mixture a good five minutes). Add butter and chocolate packets.
Add vanilla, flour, baking powder and salt and mix after each addition.
Stir in the optional ingredients if you wish.
Pour into a greased 9X13 pan that you've dusted with cocoa powder and bake at 350 for 25 minutes.
The Glaze: Melt the butter in a small heavy saucepan over low heat. Add the cocoa powder and cream and stir until it thickens (about two minutes). Don't let it boil!
Remove from the heat and stir in the powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth.
Pour over cooled brownies.
--- The William Henry Miller Innhttp://www.millerinn.comLynnette Scofield Bed and Breakfast Foodie